Peter and John are sent to Samaria from Jerusalem when they hear about the work Philip is doing there. This is a great example of that promise being fulfilled right here. You may remember that Jesus has promised that he would build his church on Peter, the rock (Matt 16:18). When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. How incredible that Philip was able to demonstrate the power of God in such an amazing way that even someone who claimed to have his own power couldn’t deny the greatness of God.Ĩ:14-19 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. Then Philip comes along and those who have been following Simon for years see the miracles he performs in the name of Jesus, and even Simon is convinced these powers are far greater than his own, and he along with other witnesses believe and are baptised. Simon is not using powers that come from God though, he’s taking the glory for his own powers. But here we encounter Simon, a real-life sorcerer, unlike some of the witches and wizards we find in Hogwarts, Simon is interacting with real people and using sorcery to perform miracles in Samaria. There are certainly some days where I wish I could command a broomstick to fly me to some place far away. Personally, I’m a huge fan of pop culture, and one of the stories in particular I love is the Harry Potter series. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. To make it easier, we’re going to look at it in smaller chunks to try to decipher what’s going on here.Ĩ:9-13 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. Today’s passage is slightly longer than the others in this series have been so far.
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